Obama to Chuck Todd in Israel: What’s with all the questions?

posted at 5:21 pm on March 20, 2013 by Allahpundit

Drudge has been having fun all day with minor embarrassments from O’s trip to Israel, from the presidential limo breaking down to Israel deciding it’ll have to dig up the tree he planted to this, in which he allegedly “berates” Chuck Todd. I wouldn’t call it that; even when he’s annoyed, Obama’s adept at not making it too obvious. He wears a smile and frames this as friendly razzing of Todd to the bitter end, but that’s hard to believe given the nature of the questions. Todd starts with a hard jab by asking about O’s powerlessness over the peace process, then throws an elbow at the end by putting him and Netanyahu on the spot with a question about Obama’s unpopularity in Israel. Give him credit for not playing along with this contrived diplomatic lovefest. (This short but sweet Onion item cuts through it even more cleanly than Todd did.)

But let’s have some substance here too: Watch the second clip below, via Mediaite, of O pressed by an Israeli reporter for a response to the claims of chemical weapons being used in Syria. As I write this, even more experts are chiming in skeptically about it:

Video footage and eyewitness accounts suggest that if a chemical agent was used in a missile attack on Khan al-Aasal that reportedly killed 31 people and wounded more than 100, it was most likely a riot-control agent designed to cause irritation, which is not generally lethal.

“In the end, all I can say with confidence is that whatever the conventional or non-conventional munition was, it was not a CW [Chemical Weapons] agent as defined by the CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention],” says Charles Blair, senior fellow for state and non-state threats at the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists…

“Until someone goes to the site [in Khan al-Aasal] and collects what is alleged to have been the powder responsible, this is likely another case where somthing odd occurred but its nature was never determined,” says Mr. Blair of the Federation of American Scientists.

A riot-control agent — like Agent 15. I’d sure like to know why Mike Rogers is telling American broadcast networks there’s a “high probability” of an attack involving chemical weapons when the experts seem awfully dubious that this is something to get excited about.

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A riot-control agent — like Agent 15. I’d sure like to know why Mike Rogers is telling American broadcast networks there’s a “high probability” of an attack involving chemical weapons when the experts seem awfully dubious that this is something to get excited about.

Lets keep this in perspective. The claim of “chemical weapons” is being brought to you by the same people who believe cupcakes with Army men on them are dangerous and need to be confiscated.

In addition, passing gas in a crowded elevator can also be defined as a chemical weapon attack.

(pssssssst……chemical weapons don’t have to be deadly..excepting the elevator SBD)

claims of chemical weapons being used in Syria. As I write this, even more experts are chiming in skeptically about it:

First skepticism I heard was Oliver North on Hannity last night – based on his first hand experience with chem weapons, the video of the purported victims was in no way consistent with chemical attack.

He basically said Chuck should be like that other “well-behaved” reporter over there. Entirely consistent with his peevishness every time he gets asked tough questions. He wants lapdogs, not journalists, who by definition are not “well-behaved.”

And he is clearly annoyed with the polling question “you just had to get one of those in” [paraphrased]

I don’t think Obama was berating Todd. I do think he was being congenial but the real key here is his purpose. When you listen to him answer questions, he gives long answers, often with irrelevant information and often without actually answering the question. The goal being to have to answer as few questions as possible. If he jokes around for a couple of minutes before actually addressing the question, he uses up even more time.

OK, so Chuck Todd, as he is want to do, pushes the envelope on asking multiple questions…..shame on you Chuck! Now, the President of the USA, while in a foreign country on camera, has the classless nerve to flip off the questioner, not once, but twice. The oh, so clever, two finger scratch, emphasis on the middle finger! What a juvenile, petulant dweeb! Thanks Mr. President, a great representation for the world to witness!

Considering how protective the crew at “Morning Joe” are whenever Todd has been criticized by someone on the right, it will be interesting to see if this not just gets a joshing mention, but a rebuke of Obama from Chuck and Mika tomorrow morning.

Yeah, I read the story at Twitchy with all the links from Conservatives and Republicans piling on Todd and reveling in Obama & Netanyahu’s rebuke to him, because Todd supposedly “be clowned” himself. I know Chuck Todd is a partisan hack, but the ridicule should be directed at Obama who can’t handle a difficult question or any unscripted moments. He did his charm thang yet flipped Todd the bird in his typical passive-aggressive manner, and somehow Todd gets the mocking? Conservatives and Republicans are missing it on this one.

Meh. Twitchy has a tendency to overplay its hand talking about “aching sides”, “gigglesnorts”, etc. Sometimes things really are hilarious, sometimes not so much. I like the fact Todd asked some tough-ish questions rather than drooling over BO -which is what we usually see.

Watch the second clip below, via Mediaite, of O pressed by an Israeli reporter for a response to the claims of chemical weapons being used in Syria.

Pressed on what exactly chemical weapons or the existence of Syria? Not an idle comment given our most geographically challenged President ever. Ford had a stupid gaffe but never before have we had a President that-

Claimed there were 57 states.
Went to Argentina and talked about the Maldives.
Claimed his supposed place of birth is in Asia

Didn’t our last prezzy use chemical weapons as an excuse to go to war somewhere? Our current dear leader is that lazy, he can’t even dream up a new reason du jour for war. It’s been six months since Benghazi and they haven’t figured out if it was a video or some guys out for a walk in the evening with their guns that caused the massacre.